But Ebola is far from the only infection that can be spread via air travel.

Here’s what you need to know about your health when taking to the skies.

What diseases can you catch from air travel?

Flying is undoubtably a dirty business. Every year, more than a billion people from the furthest corners of the globe share airports and aircraft.

According to the Oxford Journal of Infectious Diseases: “International travel has made the spread of disease via aeroplanes almost routine. Outbreaks of measles, polio and cholera have been traced back to countries thousands of miles away. Even Ebola previously travelled the globe this way: During an outbreak in Ivory Coast in the 1990s, the virus infected a veterinarian who travelled to Switzerland, where the disease was snuffed out upon arrival and she ultimately survived.”

Dr Deborah Mills, Medical Director of The Travel Doctor in Australia told news.com.au: “The level of filth all around us is amazing, there are simply millions of bacteria and viruses. But we just don’t think about it as we can usually fight them off, unless our immune system is compromised.”

She said anything from the common cold and influenza, to tuberculosis, norovirus and E coli can be caught on a plane.

“One disease of particular concern right now is the Middle East Respiratory syndrome coronavirus, in Saudi Arabia which originated from camels. We just don’t know how bad it could get.”

Most diseases are spread through close contact or by breathing in the particles or droplets coughed or sneezed out from an infected person. They can also be passed on from touching contaminated surfaces or even eating contaminated food.

“Firstly, don’t fly if you’re sick. Consider others around you,” Dr Mills said. “If you do fly you may want to consider taking a mask with you, because if the person next to you starts coughing, you’re stuck!

“I’ve had patients who have caught whooping cough on a plane. It happens. So it pays to take precautions. Carry hand sanitiser with you and make sure you wash your hands meticulously after using the toilet and before you eat. Be mindful of the germs that live on the fabric of plane seats and the tray tables. And make sure you get your shots.”

She said travellers who’ve been infected on a flight will usually develop symptoms within the week. Those most at risk include the pregnant, young children and those who have untreated AIDS.

Don’t think it couldn’t happen to you.

“People are incredibly blase about the diseases they can catch either on planes or in the destinations they visit. They think that travel is perfectly safe. They’re used to being in Australia which is clean and safe and has good health infrastructure.

“But people are getting sick all the time, you just don’t hear about it.”

Swine flu is back with a vengeance in Australia this year, with 4000 cases so far prompting the Department of Health to issue a warning for people to remain on the lookout for symptoms of the virus such as a fever, cough, headache, tiredness and diarrhoea.

First diagnosed in Saudi Arabia in 2012, the disease was spread to the US by an airline passenger travelling from the capital of Riyadh to London. There’s no vaccine and it has a fatality rate of 30 per cent. However, it can be cured with standard treatments for respiratory infection, if diagnosed early on.

Meningococcal is a rare, life-threatening bacterial illness that could damage the bloodstream and lining of the brain. There have been cases of passengers being infected on planes, including a woman who was believed to have come down with the ailment on board a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney in 2003, as detailed in this Government report.

4. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

SARS is a serious form of pneumonia caused by a virus which can result in severe breathing difficulties and can be fatal.

During the SARS outbreak, investigations were conducted among passengers from 40 flights where there were patients on board who had symptomatic SARS. Transmission is thought to have occurred on board 5 of the 40 flights, the Oxford Journal of Infectious Diseases reports.

Overall there have been approximately 800 deaths, but no cases have been reported since 2004 and WHO says the risk of transmission is low.

A passenger wearing a face mask to protect against swine flu.Source:News Limited

In May the WHO declared the spread of polio to be an international public health emergency, describing it as an “extraordinary event” which called for ‘a co-ordinated international response’.

An Afghan child, suffering from polio, is helped by his mother.Source:AP

6. Tuberculosis

This disease, which mainly affects the lungs, was once the leading cause of death in many countries but is now uncommon in Australia.

According to WHO, the transmission of tuberculosis on board commercial aircraft was reported during the 1980s, but not since then. However, the increasing popularity of air travel and the emergence of drug-resistant TB require continuing vigilance to avoid the spread of infection.